The present invention generally relates to telecommunications and a method and system for providing control information to control stores in a communication switch.
In a circuit-switched communication switch, point-to-point connections are generally established under the control of a control system which sets appropriate control stores in the switch structure so as to create circuits between predetermined input multiple positions and predetermined output multiple positions.
In distributed or modular communication switches, it is normally necessary for the control system to provide control information, for each point-to-point connection, to more than one control store in the switch. The control stores associated with a point-to-point connection in such a distributed switch are generally arranged in different switch modules in the switch. The normal procedure is to let the traffic control software in the control system interface each control store associated with the point-to-point connection in question. However, this renders the traffic control software rather complex. In addition, it is normally not possible to utilize conventional standard traffic control software already developed and available for ordinary non-modular switches.
The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks of the prior art arrangements.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a method and system for efficiently providing control information, for a point-to-point connection, from a control system to a number of control stores in a communication switch.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a communication switch which comprises a system for efficiently providing control information, for a point-to-point connection, from a control system to a number of control stores in the communication switch.
This object and other objects are met by the invention.
In accordance with a general inventive concept, a system for providing control information from a control system to a number of control stores in a communication switch is provided. The, system generally comprises a control point which receives control information from the control system to distribute the control information to predetermined control stores in the communication switch. The control information includes at least a first control code C1 and a second control code C2. These control codes C1 and C2 constitute control information for a point-to-point connection through the communication switch.
The system further comprises:
a first hardware link connecting the control point to a predetermined first control store in the switch for providing the first control code C1 from the control point to the first control store;
a number of selectively active hardware links, each one of which connects the control point to a respective predetermined further control store to provide, when active, the second control code C2 from the control point to the further control store; and
circuitry arranged to activate at least one of the selectively active hardware links in response to the first control code C1.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the link activating circuitry is a decoder which includes a first control input for receiving the first control code C1, a second input for receiving the second control code C2, and selectively active outputs. Each one of the selectively active outputs is connected to the second input by an internal connection, and to a respective one of the selectively active hardware links. The decoder further includes decoding circuitry, preferably in the form of a gate network, connected to the first control input for decoding the first control code C1 to activate one of the selectively active outputs so as to forward the second control code C2 through the activated output, thus activating the corresponding hardware link.
Preferably, the communication switch is a modular switch which comprises a number of switch modules cooperating with switch adapter modules. In an illustrative communication switch, the first control store is arranged in a switch adapter module, whereas the further control stores are arranged in different switch modules.
The invention offers the following advantages:
control information is provided to the control stores in the switch in an efficient manner;
the complexity of the traffic control software in the control system is prevented from increasing to unreasonably high levels; and
the control system need not be concerned about the internal hardware configuration of the communication switch, and traffic control software already developed for conventional switches can be used.
Other advantages offered by the present invention will be appreciated upon reading of the below description of the embodiments of the invention.